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Atherton residents replace lawn with artificial turf

What the Carpenters lawn looked like after the artificial turf was installed. The Atherton residents replaced 8,500 square feet of lawn to reduce water use. (Photo by Natalia Nazarova/The Almanac | July 29, 2014.)

Peter Carpenter, a resident of Atherton's Lindenwood neighborhood, said he hopes his recent installation of artificial turf to replace a water-hogging lawn will be an inspiration to others.

Mr. Carpenter, who is a member of the governing board of the Menlo Park Fire Protection District, said he and his wife, Jane Shaw Carpenter, began thinking about replacing their 8,500 square feet of lawn a few years ago.

"Our water bills were about $600 a month more when we were watering the lawn than when we weren't," he said.

The worsening of the drought prompted them to "look for a long-term solution," he said.

Research led them to choose artificial turf over alternatives, such as low water-use plantings, which wouldn't provide the flat surface they needed for activities, such as croquet, and a play area for their five grandchildren.

Gravel was an option, but "we thought that looked relatively unattractive," and would be hard to maintain, he said.

They chose a company recommended by neighbors after checking out its work.

"It looks magnificent," he said recently, with the project 80 percent completed. "I think it will look even better when they get finished."

Mr. Carpenter said the company he chose offers a 15-year, full-replacement guarantee and has done a meticulous job, even rolling croquet balls across the croquet court area to make sure the ground was completely flat before putting down the turf.

Because they chose such a high-end installation, however, spending about $90,000 in total, it won't save the couple much money.

"It will take us probably 10 to 15 years to pay back with what we're saving," he said. But if water gets more expensive, which he hopes it will, then they will recover their investment more quickly.

Mr. Carpenter said that he thinks local water providers should make their tiered pricing more steep, with low-priced water only at a "lifeline" level.

"If you want more water than that, then you should pay substantially more than that," he said.

Asking all customers to cut back by a certain percentage only penalizes those who already have cut back, he said.

"Our neighbors who are aware of what we're doing are really pleased with how it's turning out," he said. "The only reason you can tell it's not regular lawn is because it's all the same color." The product they installed, he said, does have brown "thatch" with the green.

And if neighbors happen to notice Mr. Carpenter shaking leaves out of his oak trees, there's an explanation for that, too. "What actually makes it look really good is when it has a few fallen oak leaves on it," he said.

Peter: I have to wonder if you considered native plants. There are fine examples in the area that are very sparing on irrigation, encourage the return of native wildlife and have no temporary or lasting negative impacts.

Posted by Peter Carpenter
a resident of Atherton: Lindenwood
on Aug 14, 2014 at 10:19 amPeter Carpenter is a registered user.

Joe - as noted in the article "Research led them to choose artificial turf over alternatives, such as low water-use plantings, which wouldn't provide the flat surface they needed for activities, such as croquet, and a play area for their five grandchildren."

Phase II of our water reduction effort will be to convert all the other planted areas to Xeriscape with drip irrigation replacing the remaining sprinkler heads. We welcome suggestions regarding specific plants that do well in this area with minimal watering.

Posted by Peter Carpenter
a resident of Atherton: Lindenwood
on Aug 14, 2014 at 12:36 pmPeter Carpenter is a registered user.

"if you are so concerned about water usage, why don't you remove your pool ? "

The pool is partially covered and uses very little water and it serves as an emergency water supply for both domestic use and firefighting in the event of a disaster.

"Did you consider spending a lot less than $90K to dig a well," Yes but the water table at our location produces very alkaline water that is unsuitable to most vegetation and unusable for domestic use. Also all the tailing from drilling a well in Atherton are now considered as hazardous waste and therefore are very expensive to dispose of.

"Can't believe you hope that water gets more expensive." You did not read the entire story:

"Mr. Carpenter said that he thinks local water providers should make their tiered pricing more steep, with low-priced water only at a "lifeline" level.

"If you want more water than that, then you should pay substantially more than that," he said."

I stand by that statement. Both gas and electric pricing tiers escalate MUCH more rapidly than do the pricing tiers for water - that is a huge economic mistake and one which I predict will soon be corrected.

Posted by Peter Carpenter
a resident of Atherton: Lindenwood
on Aug 14, 2014 at 1:01 pmPeter Carpenter is a registered user.

Really needs to understand that California is IN a water crisis and no pipeline from anywhere can be built fast enough to solve that problem. The immediate answer is water rationing either by fiat or by pricing - I prefer rationing by price.

And I have no problem being an early adopter - we installed solar domestic water heating over 30 years ago, had two all electric cars a decade before Tesla went on the market, installed fire sprinklers in an existing home when there was no legal requirement to do so and reproofed part of our formerly all cedar shingled home with identically appearing concrete nonflammable tiles.

For every early adopter there are hundreds of people who insist on coming late to innovation - your choice.

Posted by John Donald
a resident of Menlo Park: The Willows
on Aug 15, 2014 at 12:37 pmJohn Donald is a registered user.

Very nice. Great improvements have been made to artificial grass. Thanks for sharing, Peter. The option you chose sounds pretty pricey, but I imagine there are various options for quality, durability, etc. How long do you expect this lawn to last before it needs to be replaced? And how did you weight the environmental impact of creating this artificial plastic non-biodegradable material vs. continuing to use water?